Florida Kilos
by JadeMontana83
Summary: Marina is a single mother struggling to get by from day to day. Losing her job was another thing to add to her struggle, until her good friend helps her get a job that seems good until she digs deeper into it.
1. Kinda Outta Luck

"Please , all I need is one more month and I'll pay you, with interest." There was a silence on the other end of the line until I heard a faint sigh," Okay Marina, I'll give you another month, but if you don't have the money, I'll have to evict you." I nodded my head," I know, I know, I'll have it. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you ." "Don't go thanking me yet, goodbye ." "Bye."

I hung up the phone and covered my face in my hands; I know I told to give me another month but i don't think i could get it by then. He's given me so many favors and I know that this will definitely be the last. I exhaled the long breath I was holding in," Mommy, are you okay?" My head shot up from the sound of her voice, her sweet angelic voice,"Yeah mommy's okay." She reluctantly ran to me, wrapping her fragile arms around me. This little girl is what keeps me going everyday, without her I would be nothing, cause that's what I was before. Nothing. Just a young naive girl thinking that the world was at her fingertips until reality hit her in the face instead.

"Mommy look at what I did at daycare." She held up a piece of paper that had a baby blue background, with yellow flowers around the border of the paper, and in the middle was her name spelled out with different colors,"A-M-A-L-I-T-A" "Did you do this all by yourself?" She proudly nodded her head as i embraced her into another hug,"You are so smart, Amalita. Watch, once you're in school you're gonna be smarter than all the other kids." "Can i put it on the fridge?" "Sure." she hopped off my lap and ran towards the fridge, i got up from my seat and walked towards Amalita. I picked her up from the floor and held her up in front of the freezer door, she grabbed some magnets and placed the picture on the fridge.

I put her back down,"Go get cleaned up for dinner." "Okay." she ran off to her room. Suddenly the phone rang and I immediately grabbed it off the hook,"Hello?" "Hey Marina." "Oh hey Rich, what's going on?" "You should come to my place and have dinner." "Rich I've already started cooking." "Lies. I know you Marina, there's not one pot or pan out." I looked over at the empty stove and sighed,"Alright you caught me." "I know i did, now come on. Mary really wants to see you and Lita." "Alright, alright. We're coming. I'll see you in a little bit." I put the phone back on the hook and walked to Amalita's room. She was sitting on her bed playing with her stuffed bunny, Daisy, that my mother gave her when she was born," Ama, put your shoes on, we're going to Rich's for dinner." She flashed me a smile and hopped off the bed," Can Daisy come too?" "Of course." I combed my hand through her thick wavy locks and kissed the top of her head.

I went back into my room and slipped on a pair of shoes, and grabbed my purse and keys from my dresser. Amalita was already by the door waiting with Daisy cradled in her arms,"Alright lets go." We went out the door, Amalita went down the stairs before me and ran to the olive colored AMV Matador Coupe that i've had since I was a teenager. I locked the door to the small crummy house that i could barely afford and walked to the car. I unlocked the doors and helped Amalita into her car seat and buckled her in. I closed the door and got into the drivers seat myself. I put the keys into the ignition, started the car and drove to Rich's house.

On the way, i couldn't help but let my mind wander; I have a month to pay rent on the house and my job recently let me go. The reasoning having to be because of too many workers and not enough money to pay them all, so unfortunately I was one of many to be laid off. Finally, I pulled into Rich's driveway and parked the car. I let Amalita out of her seat and we walked up to his front door, Ama knocked on the door and we stood there patiently. Momentarily, the door swung open to reveal a very happy Rich," Marina! Lita!" He unexpectedly engulfed me into a hug,"Oh lord." he let me go and picked up Amalita,"You're still beautiful as always Lita." She shyly hid her joyful face,"What about Daisy?" He glanced at the bunny,"Daisy is just as lovely." "Alright, alright. We came here to eat not compliment each other." Rich glanced over at me and smirked,"Is someone jealous because they weren't told that they were beautiful?" I playfully glared at him and followed him into the house. He closed the door behind me and I went into kitchen; I inhaled the delicious smell that enveloped the room,"Mary, look who decided to show their faces." Mary stopped everything she was doing and turned around to face us," Marina!" "Hey Mary." She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight,"I missed you so much. Why haven't you stopped by lately?" I shrugged my shoulders like it was nothing,"Just workin' you know."

She gave me an unconvinced expression and turned her attention to Amalita,"Look at my Ama. How are you sweetheart!?" She lightly pinched her cheeks,"I'm good, how are you?" "I'm fine now that you're here. We've missed you so much Ama." Amalita unwrapped her arms from Rich and reached over to hug Mary. It was nice seeing them interact with each other again, i haven't talked to them in a while; around 2 months actually. Seeing them again kinda made me feel bad, they were my only friends, well family here and I completely ignored them.

After the little reunion, Rich ,Ama and I sat at the dining table; Mary was still finishing the meal,"So how's life Marina?" I shrugged my shoulders,Rich rolled his eyes,"You're not fooling anyone Marina. Something's up. Is Caesar messing with you again?" I sighed,"No. I haven't heard from him for awhile now." "Then what's wrong? You know you can come to me, to Mary for anything." "Yeah, i know." "Then what's up?" I inhaled then exhaled,"I lost my job," I tried not to look at him but i could feel his eyes on me," I only have a month to pay rent and if i don't have it by then, I'll be evicted." I glanced at him as he combed his hands through his stiff thick hair," What am i gonna do?" He glanced up at the ceiling then back at me,"Listen, I've been working at this mansion, new people are always coming in. I could talk to someone and maybe get you a job there." "You'd do that for me?" "Of course, as long as you don't ignore me again." I grabbed ahold of his hand and kissed it all over,"Thank you Rich. I really appreciate it."


	2. Damn You

I scanned through the newspaper that was delivered at my house earlier this morning. Every now and then i'd glance from the paper to Amalita kicking her feet back and forth trying to catch as much air as she could so she can get higher into the sky. The corners of my mouth curled up and brought my attention back to the paper. There were definitely jobs available, but all required skills that i didn't have. Looking through this newspaper made me wish I could go back in time and redo everything i ever did. I wish i could've gone to college like momma told me to but i was too naive to listen. But there's no going back, i'll just have to accept what i've done and move forward.

"May I sit here." I was startled by the deep rough voice coming from a stalky broad shouldered man. His black waves were slicked back behind his wide head, his eyes were blocked by a pair of reflective shades. His thin lips were surrounded by a scruffy go-tee, despite the hot weather he had on a long sleeve shirt with a pair of khaki slacks. I opened my mouth to speak but he had already sat down beside me, his arms stretched out behind the bench. I glanced at Amalita and she was still swinging, i turned my head to the mystery man who was already looking at me.

I swallowed the spit that was building up in my mouth," Marina Allen, right?" My eyebrows furrowed together and my back stiffened up," Who are you?" He let out a dry laugh and curled a piece of my hair in his finger," You're alot more beautiful in person." I snatched my hair away from him and glared at my reflection in his glasses," Who the fuck are you and what the hell do you want!?" He chuckled once again, my hands gripped onto the newspaper,"Listen, I wasn't suppose to tell you this ,but you were so damn pretty in the picture I just had to come see you myself," His tongue glided along his bottom lip and flashed me a white smile,"He's coming." With that he stood up from the bench, as he was about to walk away, he lightly pinched my chin; I immediately jerked away from him and shot him a glare. I got up from the bench and paced over to Amalita,"Mommy are you gonna push me?" I grabbed onto the swing and gently slowed it down,"No, we have to go." I scooped her up in my arms and we went back to my car and went back home.

I closed the door behind us and immediately locked it, I wasn't going to test my luck with that guy. I carried Amalita to her room and set her on her bed; I embraced her face into my hands and gazed into her eyes,"No matter what, don't listen to anyone unless mommy says it's okay, got it?" she nodded her head slowly and she snaked her arms around my neck and I squeezed her tight,"I love you." "I love you too mommy." We let go of each other and I let her play with her toys. I walked out of her room and into the kitchen to start dinner. I grabbed a pot from the cabinet and filled it with water and boiled it on the stove. While the water was boiling, i opened up the nearly empty pantry and reached for some pasta and pasta sauce. I dumped the pasta into the boiling hot water and took out a pan to heat up the sauce.

Once the spaghetti was done, I grabbed two bowls from the cabinet and two forks from the drawer,"Amalita, time to eat!" I quickly heard her little feet patter across the room, she hopped up in her chair and smiled at me,"Hungry too huh?" "Yeah." I set the bowl in front of her and she didn't hesitate to dig in. After dinner, i put away the leftovers and Amalita helped me wash the dishes. After i put away the clean dishes, i followed Ama to the bathroom and ran some warm water into the tub," Can't forget bubbles!" Ama squeezed the soap near the faucet and foam bubbles began to form. She quickly removed her garments and jumped into the bathtub, throwing the bubbles into the air. I got her washcloth and helped her wash her body before taking some shampoo and thoroughly washed through her thick curly hair. I rinsed her off and wrapped the towel around her body, she scurried off into her room while i drained the water.

When i got into her room, she was already dressed in her night clothes," Where's your brush girlie?" She ran off to her dresser, grabbed her brush and gave it to me. We took a seat on her bed and i placed her on my lap, i grazed the brush through the strands of hair, getting every tangle i possibly could before tucking her in bed. I gave her a light kiss on her forehead," Goodnight." "Goodnight, love you." "Love you too sweetie."

I exited her room closing the door slightly before i went into the living room. I plopped on the couch, i snatched up the newspaper from the table and read it continuously. As i read the paper, i kept praying to myself that Rich could get me that job, i really didn't care what i was doing. As long as i wasn't hoeing around or selling drugs, i was cool with any job i could get. I finally put down the paper and laid back on the couch. My eyes wandered the light blue tattered walls, the pictures of my family hung loosely over the tv. One picture caught my eye, i was standing beside my mother , about 5 months pregnant with Ama. My mother had a big smile upon her ageless brown face, the wind was blowing her permed hair, which seems to be the style now a days. We both looked so happy that day, like nothing could bring us down. Unfortunately, one person could and still can, that one man who changed my life forever.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, i swung my head towards the clock on the wall, wondering who the hell would be here at this time. I steadily got up from the couch, i crept slowly towards the door, my shaky hand was inches from the door knob. Abruptly, the door knob rattled, i backed away from the door, but it swung open with ease. My heart almost stopped at the sight of the tall tan man who stood in front of me. His long black wavy hair was pulled back so tight that his eyes were almost slits. Every inch of his upper body was covered in tattoos, his thick eyebrows raised in mischief at the sight of me. A long smirk was plastered on his grim face and he rubbed his chin with his thick rough hands. A humorless coarse chuckle erupted his throat. I shakily let out the breath i was holding in,"….Caesar?"


	3. Big Bad Wolf

"Mucho tiempo sin verte hermosa." He stepped closer to me, the devious smile still on his face. He shut the door behind him,"Why are you here?" He rubbed his hands together slowly and gazed at me,"You know exactly what I want Rina-" "Don't call me that." He sarcastically threw his hands up in surrender, letting out a faint chuckle,"You didn't have a problem with that when we were making love." I could feel my face twist in disgust,"That was not making love." He shrugged his shoulders and crept closer and closer to me until my back was against the wall,"Call it what you want Rina, but we did it and out of that process we made something that you won't let me see." I studied his face, his strong aztec features, made you think he could be a god, the way he stood was strong, but everything about him was the opposite. I glanced up at his hazel pupils,"Oi dios mio, you look stressed. It's hard raising a child on your own huh?" "Fuck you."

He placed his hands on the wall, enclosing me between him. He caressed my cheek, forcing his hungry lips onto mine,"Get off me Caesar." He forcefully grabbed ahold of my hips, pinning me onto the wall. He roughly grabbed my face into his hands, kissing me again; I tried prying him off, but he was too strong for me to even slightly push him away,"Mommy?" My attention was quickly detached from Caesar and instead replaced with Amalita,"Mommy who is that?" she hid behind her door frame, peeping at me and Caesar.

Caesar slowly unwrapped his hands from me and turned to Amalita, shocked at what he was looking at,"Hola corina." He stepped away from me,"Woow she looks just like you. Those big brown eyes. The caramel skin," he grazed his thumb across my lips,"Those beautiful pink lips." He walked over to her, I immediately grabbed ahold of his arm,"Leave her alone." He easily shook me off, but I grabbed him again, to shortly be pushed off. I tried to pull him back once more but was stopped by a black pistol in his hand that he had retrieved from the back of his pants,"Let me talk to mi hija." I stood next to him, studying his every move.

He bent down to her level and smiled at her,"What's your name bonita?" Her eyes went back and forth between me and him,"It's okay, you can tell me your name. I'm Caesar." He reached his hand out to her, she looked at me, and Caesar did the same before turning back to her,"Mommy said it's okay. You can talk to me." He held out his hand again,"I'm Caesar." she steadily placed her hand into his,"Amalita." He glanced at me and grinned in victory,"Some of my spanish rubbed off on you huh? I was sure you were gonna name her something more black. Like Renee or something." I stared at him with my jaw clenched and he turned back to Ama,"Guess who I am." She looked at me and back at him,"A friend of mommy's?" He shook his head and laughed a little,"No, i'm your daddy."

I moved past Caesar and shielded Ama from him,"Okay it's time to go back to bed." I picked her up and laid her back in her bed. Caesar was about to come in but i quickly pushed him out and closed the door shut behind me, still gripping the door knob,"You need to go NOW." He was about to reach for his gun but stopped himself from doing so,"Why are you doing this Rina?" I rolled my eyes,"You know exactly why," He rubbed his chin,"You are a bad influence on her and I don't want her around that." He nodded his head slowly still looking at me,"She's my daughter too Rina. Im her dad, she deserves to have both of us in her life." "Then maybe you should start acting like a father and take your ass off the streets, give her an example of a man she should have in her life." I glared at him as he did the same to me,"You're so hard to please Rina." "Yeah, well that's why you don't deserve all of this, you can't even handle me." With that i pushed him away from Amalita's room, into the living room and out the front door,"Don't you come back Caesar." He stepped in front of me bending down so we were face to face,"And if I do?" "I'm calling the police." He laughed and kissed me quick before I could register what he did,"Like that's ever stopped me." I closed the door in his face and locked it as tight as I possibly could.


	4. You Can Be The Boss

I sat on Rich's couch with Ama in my lap, Rich sat in the chair in front of us and faced me,"Like I said, a lot of people come in, but not all of them are hired." I huffed and rolled my eyes,"What makes you think I'll be hired then?" "You're an independent single mom, who cooks, cleans; hell i should give you an award my self." A smile crept on my face,"Trust me, you'll get the job. Ain't that right Lita." She nodded her head and hugged my hand that was wrapped around her.

Rich dropped Ama at the daycare and we drove to the mansion. As we rode, i thought this mansion would be in one of those local gated communities but we kept riding and we were out of the city. We rode along this two way rode, either side consisted of cement white walls and tall trees. We slowly came to a stop in front of this gate, Rich talked to the guy at the gate and the gates began to open, we drove in. My eyes almost popped out of my head when i seen the place, definition of a dream,"Who the hell are you working for?" "You'll see." We parked in the back with all the other employees and got out of the car, Rich already had his uniform on, I on the other hand had on a black pencil skirt and a white long sleeve dress shirt tucked in.

We walked in from the back part of the mansion and a woman approached us, she glanced at Rich knowingly and he walked on. The woman gave me a warm smile,"Are you Marina Allen?" "Yes I am." "Great. First things first I'm Penelope, the head master of the employees. Richard has told me a lot about you ." "Were they good things?" She laughed a little as we made our way up some stairs,"If they weren't, we wouldn't be talking to each other." "True." We walked down a hall and into a room, I stood behind Penelope as she spoke to someone," , Marina Allen is here for the final analyzation." Penelope lightly pushed me forward and went out the room.

I tied my hands together behind my back and stared at the woman in front of me. She had shoulder length blonde hair that was fine to the touch; from what i could tell, she had a body of a high fashion model. I looked down at myself and back at her, I was nothing compared to her,"Are you going to have a seat or just stare at me?" My eyes widened,"Oh sorry." I quickly sat down on the love seat across from her and folded my hands together,"You seem like a good hard-working woman…" I slowly nodded my head unsure on what she was going with this,"We need more women like you." "Thank you?" "Can you start today?" I raised my eyebrow,"Um yeah, yes, I can."

"Good, find Penelope and she'll give you a uniform." "Thank you so much , you have no idea how grateful I am." I smiled wide at her and exited the room. I went back down the stairs and into the room where me and Rich entered from, I saw him and Penelope talking. I waltzed my way up to them, Rich glanced at me with a raised eyebrow,"So?" I looked at him then Penelope,"I need a uniform." Rich grinned from ear to ear,"Yes! I told you not to worry, now I have someone to talk to other than her." He pointed at Penelope and she glared at him,"You're pushing your luck Richard." She turned back to me,"Come on lets get you a fit."

I followed closely behind Penelope not wanting to get lost. We stopped in front of a door and she quickly unlocked it; she opened it and motioned for me to come in. I stepped into the room filled with the identical black dress outfits," What's your size?" I glanced at Penelope," 4." She nodded her head and rummaged through the rack of dresses," Here you go." She grabbed the garment and handed it to me," Just change in here and give me your other clothes when your done okay?" "Okay." Penelope left the room and I immediately took off my current outfit. I took the dress off the hanger and unbuttoned the front of the dress. I easily slipped my arms through the armholes and buttoned the dress back up. I folded my other clothes back up and carried them in my hands. I grabbed the door knob and exited out the room; Penelope was right across the room waiting for me with a white apron in her hands," Lets swap." I gave her my clothes and she gave me the apron. I tied it around my body and looked to Penelope," Now what?" " is waiting for you upstairs." I nodded my head and left the maid hall.

As i walked out of the Maid Hall, I couldn't help but admire the interior design of the mansion. It isn't my taste but it is far better than where I'm living at. The walls resembled paintings from Michelangelo or something. The interior colors were very dark and masculine. I quickly walked past the front foyer and steadily up the elegant stairs, studying my feet as I examined each stair. Abruptly, my shoulder collided with another hard figure, my head quickly shot up," Oh,I'm so sorry-" I glanced at the man before me, His eyes were blood shot, with a scar that stretched from the upper part of his left eyebrow down to his cheek. He stared down at me as if he was trying to examine me or intimidate me. Whatever he was doing was working, I swallowed the lump in my throat and hesitantly spoke," A-Are you a friend of the Montana's?" His expression immediately changed, he raised an eyebrow at me and cheekily grinned," You're funny mane." He lightly chuckled and pointed across the way, I followed his finger to where he was pointing at and I could feel the heat rise to my face. It was an oil painting of him and ; I swallowed another lump in my throat and turned my attention back to ," Sorry." He glanced at me one more time before continuing down the stairs. I shook my head at how stupid I was just then and continued up the stairs awaiting my task.


End file.
